Fractal
by Faust91x
Summary: "The biggest enemy isn't the one without, but within."
1. Chapter 1

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL. Chapter I - Irregular. **

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Author Notes: So yeah, I'm back. With this attempt at flexing my writing muscles. Don't know if I'll continue this but had to take it out of my mind.

*A fractal is a mathematical set that typically displays self-similar patterns, which means it is "the same from near as from far". Fractals may be exactly the same at every scale or they may be nearly the same at different scales [1].

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

PLOP PLOP PLOP

Water dropplets fell from broken pipes, turning what was once little more than accumulated dirt in an abandoned alley in Mitakihara into mud puddles that made walking across a dangerous venture.

The bespectacled girl running across the alley, clutching her broken arm, blood dripping from a healing wound on her forehead cursed her luck as she struggled forward, out of breath while trying to escape impending doom.

"Hah hah hah..." her lungs felt on fire and her chest hurt with every step she takes, probably some broken bones. She continues, her legs shaking due to the strain.

"No...more, I can't..." she says as her legs give up and she falls into the ground with a thud.

Her red trimmed glasses fall from her face due to the impact and fall several inches beyond her reach. Against her base impulses of being in a dark and abandoned alley, the stench of rotten trash filling her nostrils, the girl starts feeling the ground looking for her glasses and tries to recover her breathing and heartbeat.

Quickly, I need to see if I intend to escape her, a sudden shiver runs across her spine as she gives out a cold cynical laugh, as if remembering some cruel joke. Weird, its still too soon for me to start feeling this, maybe some of her personality has rubbed out on me...¡BINGO!

Victorious, she finds her glasses and to her fortune they only have some minor scratches, a miracle given the last scuffle...

Putting them on, she examines the alley she is in and to her surprise its extremely familiar. Wow, if this isn't fate that brought me here, this is the alley where Kyoko comes every time looking for a fight, thinks the girl as she examines the broken pipes, the muddy ground from which she quickly stands up and starts cleaning her hands in her ragged and bloodied school uniform. The afternoon sun shines a passionate red that promises blood and the air feels stale against her skin.

The place reeks of decay and corruption, a perfect breeding ground for delinquents and the familiars that feed on them.

"But, are there familiars in this world?" she says almost in a whisper, afraid of upseting the delicate balance of a place she doesn't belong to, and even more afraid of gaining Her notice.

"No. This is a perfect world" says a childlike voice at the edge of her vision. The girl turns her head so fast she feels her neck snapping. She puts a hand over and massages the cramp as she stares at the pair of red eyes at the corner of the alley. From it, a white ferret like animal walks, her eyes staring intently at the girl in front of him.

"Kyubey!" the girl smiles as she approaches the animal, hope rising in her voice. If someone knows how to set things right is him! Truth is, she never trusted Kyubey completely, or rather, won't trust him in the future. But for once, an impartial observer and a voice of reason would be more than welcome amongst this chaotic city.

"Greetings, Akemi Homura!" replies the Incubator in his usual cheeful voice, his face not changing at all, giving him a creepy air. Homura looks around for danger before approaching Kyubey with stammering steps. Right, you still haven't recovered. Baby steps Homura, she tries to remind herself lest she fall again.

"I'm so glad to see you! she says with tears in her eyes, subconsciously grabbing at her braids as she tries to avoid overt displays of emotion. "Please, I need to know..." her tongue's tied, there's so much she wants to know that she doesn't know what to ask first. What happened, how could she do it, WHAT IS SHE?

Let me answer you... pulses an insidious dark voice in the back of her mind, a voice that makes her feel as if she had been splashed with ice cold water and burned with white hot irons at the same time. A voice that speaks of despair, pain, and the most primitive nightmares of mankind.

Homura stares in horror at the figure walking from the shadows behind the Incubator. A pale figure clad all in black with high heels and a creepy arrogant smile, made even worse by the fact she's wearing her face.

"I have distracted her as you asked, master" says the Incubator as he bows his head towards the dark figure, his cold unblinking eyes staring at the floor.

"Good" says the figure without looking away from Homura. She won't ever praise anything the Incubator does, although even she has to recognize the efficiency of the emotionless beings. Meanwhile Homura stammers back, looking at all possible escape routes and looking for a distraction.

"The what is that I did what neither of you could, I fullfilled my wish" says the figure with a sardonic smile, conjuring her dark orb, a purple gem shining with the light of entire universes. Solid hope, which mesmerizes Homura as she stares at the infinity that is so unknown yet so familiar at the same time. As if looking at the face of the person she cares about the most.

"The how is still unknown, even for me" the Homura that isn't Homura continues.

"As for your last question...lets say I'm the existence that forever wills evil and forever works good. I'm the adversary, the one that opposes the Law and substitutes it with my own. The superior way" she says as the braided Homura stares at her shield, summoning it back on her possession and becoming ready. Time stop, its now or never, she thinks desperate as the other Homura looks at her dark orb, completely enraptured in her talk.

"As for you..." the dark Homura begins but is unable to finish as her body loses all color, just like the rest of the world. A perfect moment, Homura thinks as she starts breathing hard, unable to believe it actually worked. She takes two steps backwards...

And her shield breaks into pieces, the internal clockwork mechanism clattering to the ground with a loud thunk as the body recovers all color. "Wh...what?" Homura manages to say as an invisible force lifts her like a rag doll and violently throws her against a set of pipes.

"Guh!" Homura manages to say as the wind is knocked out of her, the impact shattering the pipes and splashing water all over her. Disheveled, she retches blood as she clutches her abdomen and the red coppery liquid starts pouring out of her mouth, mingling with the cold water all over her.

"As for you, you have no place in this perfect world" says Akuma Homura, slowly levitating towards the fallen Homura. Little more than a black blur as the braided and wounded girl starts losing consciousness.

"Please...don't..." she manages to say between mouthfuls of blood towards the figure looming over her. Help me, Madoka...

"Time to eat!" says the gleeful figure as shadows raise from her figure and everything turns to black.

**CHAPTER END**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

[1] wiki/Fractal


	2. Chapter 2

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL.**

**Chapter II - Shadows.**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Author Notes:**

So...here we go again! messed up my formatting of the previous chapter -_-, hope this one retains the paragraphs.

I haven't written because I'm trapped in the nightmare that's adult life. I'm now an engineer, with work to do. Also trying my hand at making AMV's and doujins, along with my robotic project so time's been running out again. As Faust says "oh art so vast and life so fleeting!".

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

The night was cold and dreary as storm clouds rolled over the dark blue sky, clouding the horizon as if the sky itself controlled by a distressed and capricious hand made its dissastisfaction known through the unnaturally cold and windy weather.

Most people had commented on the unseasonally cold weather that had been plaguing Mitakihara these days, although thus far no one seemed to have noticed the even weirder half moon that hung over the sky in plain view. Either because most people nowadays spent so much time in their virtual worlds to take a look at the starry night or because of some cantrip that clouded their minds to that impossibility, it was of no concern to the dirty blonde girl that prepared the tea in her dimly lit and dusty mansion.

Her hands trembling due to the effort and black rings over her eyes due to the nightmares, _if only they were only nightmares_, she thought with a grimace. The visions...she hadn't been able to sleep well in weeks due to the apocalyptic imagery that filled her dreams, haunting her even in her waking moments. For Oriko Mikuni had no peace after having made her Contract with that damnable Incubator.

"Oriko, you know I can do it for you so you can rest!" said the concerned but still cheerful voice of Kirika from the other room. The Puella Magi, the one that loved her the most, was plopped comfortably over a cushion patiently waiting for her beloved to finish the tea. A comfortable black dress covering her rough and athletic body, something she wouldn't normally wear and had accepted only to please Oriko.

"It'll be just a moment, darling" answered Oriko to her kouhai, and something more... Being honest with herself, the only reason Oriko hadn't taken a gun to her Soul Gem to get over with those visions was because of Kirika. Oriko knew that no matter what she went, Kirika would follow and so she planned and counterplanned, iterating all possible threads of future to find the one where she and her beloved would survive._ If there's a will, there's a way_...I'm sure of it, thought the seer trying to cheer herself.

She felt a body pressing herself against her back and a pair of hands settling on her waist. That familiar body heat, that perfect shape that made her temperature rise and her cheeks blush. "You know I don't care bout' the tea, I just want you Oriko, forever and ever" said the playful voice of Kirika against her ear, making Oriko blush even more.

"I'm interrupting something?" said a cold and snarky voice that made Oriko freeze over as Kirika turned around to face the stranger girl. _Its over, time's up_...thought Oriko trying to face the truth, she had lost and she hadn't even begun.

"Who the hell are you?" said Kirika, anger seeping in her voice at having been interrupted of her time with Oriko. The girl in front of them looked simple, dressed in a black gothic lolita dress and a black ribbon the only thing that kept her long hair in place. She was barefoot and extremely pale, like a corpse that had just entered rigor mortis. Her expression was one of boredom although her eyes showed a deep sadness and a glint of madness that made both Oriko and Kirika uneasy.

"Kirika, please don't provoke her..." whispered Oriko to her beloved. Its not her, _we have a chance to escape if we play it safe_, thought the seer trying to use her powers to lead them to victory. Still, some sort of static seemed to be afflicting her visions...damn!

"I've just come here to stock for the incoming battle" said the figure in front of her with a sinister smile. "It just so happens that you, Oriko Mikuni, are exactly what I'm looking for".

"Who do you think you are, bitch!" That was the last strain as Kirika transformed into her Puella Magi outfit, summoning three long and jagged claws from her hands and launching herself at inhuman speeds towards the figure in front of her.

"Kirika stop!" screamed Oriko but it was too late.

"I'm your worst nightmare" said the figure without expression, until her body started contorting, growing larger and larger, her shadow easily covering the charging Puella Magi as the girl's body cracked and crumbled. Like watching a corpse rot at high speed, the girl shed her skin like a snake and her muscle decomposed in a ghastly sight, the smell of rotting meat filling the room and making Kirika slow her pace. Still, it was too late to stop her charge and she tried to attack the bone white figure that now stood in front of her, ragged clothes and what looked like flowers sprouting from her decomposing and visible brain.

_Are those...lilies?_ Thought Kirika as the bony figure moved with preternatural speed, easily deflecting the Puella Magi's charge and smaking a clawed hand deep in the girl's abdomen.

"Kirika!" screamed the seer as she watched the claws sprouting from the back of her beloved, her screams filling the room as blood trickled over the monstruosity's bony hand. The figure raised the claw where Kirika struggled for dear life and threw the Puella Magi towards Oriko. The two bodies crashed across the kitchen's counter, the sound of broken bases filling the place as Oriko felt the weight of Kirika over her. Blood staining her white dress.

"Oh Kirika...Kirika" says Oriko cradling Kirika's body, the other girl quickly recuperating from the assault due to her Puella Magi phisiology.

"Don't worry, Oriko, It's...just a scratch" says Kirika as she struggles in the seer's grasp, trying to stand and resume the battle. "I'll...protect you, my love"

"You can call me Homulily" said the ghasly figure in front of them as if unaware of the fact she had just impaled a Puella Magi in her clawed hands and resuming the previous conversation. The voice coming from her deep and madenned, very different from the stoic girl that stood moments before. "Now..." she began.

The room exploded.

Flame, deep hot and burning filled the place and debris flew everywhere, leaving charred wood and chipped stone in what once had been a luxurious but abandoned mansion.

"Hah hah...quickly...this way!" whispered the seer while struggling with Kirika's body as the two made their way across the unlit and dusty corridor of her mansion. The strigger of the explosive charge still in her trembling and bloodied hands. She felt bruised all over, _never expected explosions to pack such a punch_, thought the seer unbelieving she had to resort to such lowly methods. _Still, if this is what we need to survive, so be it. She's not Her, there's a chance.._.she repeated mentally, trying to push herself forwards with Kirika's weight.

"Explosives, huh. That is my schtick" said the cold voice of the witch from the debris as it advanced quickly, noiseless, her shadow the only thing visible among the smoke.

The sound of a string breaking and the hall was filled with iron pellets, shattering the mosaic floor and sending glass flying everywhere.

Bang, bang, one explosion after another.

_Don't turn back, don't turn back and keep going_, thought Oriko as she grasped for air and covered her head with one hand while grasping Kirika's back with the other.

"Ah!" he seer's foot stuck something solid and she fell to the floor with a gasp.

"I should sue you for copyright infringment" said the voice right above the seer, a tinge of cruelty marking her featores. The moonlight filtering from the broken glass the only thing illuminating the pair of bleached and deformed bones of the skeleton, a pair of red eyes shining with malice.

Shit! Oriko did her best to stand up quickly but Kirika's body weighed her down and she only managed to half kneel in front of the abomination, her breathing getting out like mist in front of her. Somehow this "monster" acted like a black hole, sucking in heat, light and even her Soul Gem was getting darker. Visions of her and Kirika's impending doom filling her mind, faster than thought itself the seer summoned a bunch of orbs that she prepared to fire towards the wretched abomination in a last ditch attempt to escape.

"No...Oriko...I'll take care of her, you escape" whispered the voice of Kirika, the black haired girl standing up and summoning her claws. Standing between Oriko and the witch.

"Kirika, you can't!" answered the prophet, but it was too late, Kirika, her Kirika had already jumped towards the towering being. Flashes of steel and sparks came out of the Puella Magi's conjured claws as she made contact with Homulily, tracing an arch towards the witch's head.

Only to be blocked by the same bony hand of before, using the other one Kirika was slammed against the wall with a crash.

"Kirika!" Oriko screams as she sends a barrage of spheres towards the witch, they shine like green shooting stars as they impact against the witch's frame and bounce out of her sturdy body. Feeling as if she was hyperventilating, Oriko fights the urge to run for her life and leave Kirika behind. _Just a little more, just get Kirika and run, that's all!_

She finds herself crashing against the far off wall of the corridor, a stab of pain in her back and head. Somehow the witch advanced faster than she could process and hit her like a train with her huge claws.

"Oriko! Run!" screams the bloodied figure of Kirika as the Puella Magi jumps over the back of the witch and claws at her face with all her might. Feeling a ringing in her ears and stars clouding her vision...or are they tears? She can only watch in horror as the witch shakes off Kirika and stabs her against the ground.

Thud, one claw falls to the ground and Kirika screams inhumanly. The witch raises her claw to the air.

Thud, another falls and her legs are severed from her body. Oriko's legs give way and she wants to turn and scream but she can only stare in horror as her lover is ripped apart.

The witch grabs the fallen girl girl with one hand while grasping her right arm with the other, Oriko knows what comes next and she doesn't like it. The fact she has already seen it doesn't make the wet sound of Kirika's arm being twisted and ripped apart from her body any more pleasant.

Kirika falls limp, barely conscious as she looks at the monster that still grasps her and leans her hed to the side to see her beloved Oriko, always so beautiful even with the red staining her dress, on the floor, crying. _Why does she cry...why doesn't she run? Wha..._

She is unable to finish her sentence as her body is overwhelmed by a stab of pain, a pain so deep and so primal she is unable to scream as the witch sucks the light out of her gem. She felt her mind flooding with memories, meeting Oriko and being dazed by her radiance. Trying again and again to befriend the strange girl but unable to. Making her wish, to change so that Oriko would love her...her afternoons with her...and suddenly she felt the unnatural urge to grasp that face and tear it apart. _You never loved me, always putting your feelings over mine._ Always a toy for you to discard when broken...spoke the alien thought Kirika couldn't understand, except she wasn't Kirika anymore, she was Margot.

"No...no...Kirika...please..." said Oriko as the worm like thing advanced towards her.

"Normally I would let her enjoy her meal but don't worry, you'll be with your beloved Margot soon!" said the skeletal figure coldly while staring at the seer.

"B-but...why..." whispered Oriko between sobs as she stared at what was once her lovely Kirika.

"Nothing personal, but if we're to survive we'll need everything we can get" said the skeletal figure serious for once. "And you, Oriko Mikune are indispensable in our survival" said the skeletal figure approaching her.

"I'm sorry, Kirika"

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**End Notes:**

I'm impressed there are no post Rebellion fanfics thus far. Only some one shots about why Homura did what she did. I expected to be flooding with post Rebellion stories just like what happened after the series.

Is there something I'm missing?

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼


	3. Chapter 3

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL.**

**Chapter III - Straight from the past / Friends.**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Author Notes:**

Thanks to everyone that has reviewed and favorited this story, it really motivates to keep going on. Special thanks to Timmy_Sparks because I wouldn't have returned to writing otherwise!

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Everything was wrong with Madoka Kaname's life, which was a way to say that everything was perfect as the pinkette had lived another extremely good day that wasn't very different from the last one._ It's strange..._ thought the pink haired girl as she made her way towards school.

It was the same path she remembered, the same familiar faces she missed during her stay in the United States (from which she couln't remember much though...) yet things just felt dreamlike, as if the universe itself was playing a prank with her life, and it wasn't a good prank anyway.

She knew she had no right to be angry at the bouts of good luck she had gotten, for example, no matter how late she stayed at night, time itself seemed to dilate so that she always woke up early and refreshed to her uncrumpled bed in her perfect room that somehow seemed to clean itself everytime she left it despite her father negating his intervention.

The fridge always had her favorite foods, especially those pink rice balls she so loved and rarely got the chance to eat in America. She always had the answer to the questions at school even if she didn't study, the weather was always calm (albeit a little cold and the storm clouds that rolled menacingly didn't go away like ever).

Even the TV always seemed to have her favorite programs, movies or something she might be interested somehow as if it predicted her desires, even at hours it shouldn't be possible (seriously, why are Saturday cartoons at Wednesday's night?) and the stores displayed beautiful and new experiences for her.

_But why me? It's not like I'm special or deserve any of that..._thought the pinkette remembering the only thing she hadn't been able to get. For all her good luck she hadn't been able to befriend THAT one girl, Akemi Homura. She was the class nurse and very cold towards everyone, pushing everyone away. And THAT thing, the challenge of befriending her and melting those ice layers she set upon herself was something that had elluded Kaname Madoka, not helped by the fact that girl avoided her like the plague. But the more she failed to reach out to her, the more Madoka desired._ It's only natural_, she wouldn't deserve to be her mother's daugther if she fled from a challenge thought the girl as she finished her breakfast and made her way to school.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"Why do you hate me?" had asked Madoka to the black haired girl one parcticularly bright morning of June as she had made her way towards Homura that was, as usual, sitting alone with her bento (which for some reason had only tomatoes...). As she walked towards Homura, her legs trembling and feeling as if the ground itself was extending making her walk feel like miles instead of the few meters to the bench where Homura sat, the sun particularly uncomfortable in the spot Homura was (seriously how does she stand this...).

"Wh...what?" answered the black haired girl at the pinkette's question, not even raising her head to look her in the eyes. Somehow the world seemed to stop at that moment, the light of the sun colder and no sounds around them, as if the entire world had decided to stop and listen to that single question, which was just silly, thought the pinkette.

"I just...want to know...why you hate me" replied Madoka self consciously grabbing at her ribbons (her pink ribbons) while staring at the girl sitting in front of her and doing her best to supress the urge to run.

"I hate pink" was Homura's reply as she bowed her head to the other side far away from the pinkette, her voice little more than a whisper. Madoka could have sworn she heard laughter around them and she looked at both sides to ascertain they were alone (if someone was laughing at Homura rejecting her, she could...cry...). Leaves blew as the wind picked up and black storm clouds formed in the horizon, the sound of thunder far away yet so close Madoka thought for a second it was emanating from Homura.

"Oh...I see..." thought Madoka feeling as if Homura had gone and punched her in the gut (something Hitomi had done once accidentaly as part of her demonstration in martial arts training) except much worse, a knot in her body formed and she fought back the surge of tears. _It's okay, respect her decisions but keep fighting until you know there's nothing to be done darling_, said the voice of her mother in Madoka's head.

"Well, I like you and I think we...we could be good friends, I'd like to..." drawn breath to continue, calm and not pushing the subject, "t-to try to know you better, if you want" finished the pinkette with determination and blushing slightly as she felt like she had just confessed her love, and to a girl no less...

"No" was Homura's quick reply, Madoka stared at the floor trying to accept that finality. "But thanks" said Homura again as she stood from where she was sitting and hanging her bag to her side (a strange furry white bag with red dots at that...). As she made her passed by the pinkette, not even once staring at her, she once again got all cryptic like the first time they had talked. "I'm sorry but I'm going to make you hate me" and with that she was gone.

A strong rain started to pour as Homura left and Madoka had to seek cover. It had been a really rainy week.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Madoka zoned back on the path (she was quite a ditz and it would do no good to trip) she saw that there were no Sayaka nor Hitomi waiting for her, _that Sayaka always late, then again now she has to contend with Kyoko-chan too_ thought the pinkette amused although feeling a pang of loneliness at the thought. Sayaka now spent most of her time with Kyoko while Hitomi was hanging out with Kyosuke most of the time.

As she made her way to school she felt a pair of eyes trained on the back of her neck and the pinkette turned to look at a black haired girl that was looking at her from the other side of the road. _Looks familiar..._thought the pinkette as she looked at her, _can't be...is that...Homura-chan?_

She strained her eyes, she wasn't. But looking at her and with some effort Madoka could swear she was her double. The same pale skin tone and beautiful face, the same frail physique and even the same uniform! Still, there were some differences, for one, Homura didn't wear glasses, _that I know of... _the girl also had her long hair made in two long braids and her posture wasn't as firm as that of Homura. Even weirder, the girl was waving at her and smiling...

"Ahm...helllo?" said Madoka while waving back at the girl in front of her, approaching carefully. "Do...do we know each other?" asked the pinkette at the girl in front of her.

"Yes...and no" answered the girl to Madoka's bewilderment. _What is that supposed to mean..._

"We have, we will and we won't" continued the girl looking at Madoka with the same sad eyes she had seen in Homura all the time.

"You're Homura's sister?" asked Madoka, she has to be! The same cryptic talk as Homura, they have to be twins! Thought Madoka secretly laughing at the idea of this Homura being the good twin and the other Homura the evil one, then she felt guilty at considering the other Homura evil, _we don't even know each other,_ Madoka chastised herself.

"No" answered the glasses Homura, "actually I shouldn't even be here, but I couldn't resist the idea to look at you at least one more time..." continued the girl while staring at Madoka's surroundings, as if afraid of something.

"I just want you to know that, you mean a lot to me and that...I'm sorry" said the Homura with glasses as she seemed to notice something. Madoka thought she had seen a pair of purple eyes on the periphery of her vision but when she turned her head there was nothing. Not even the Homura with glasses that was there a moment ago.

"What just happened" said Madoka staring into space.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**End Notes:**

Just setting the tone and relationships. I don't know how much this one will last as I fear my attention span might not let me extend this and complete the story at the same time but have ideas for at least three more chapters.

Reviews are most welcome!

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼


	4. Chapter 4

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL.**

**Chapter IV - Ice and Fire.**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Author Notes:**

Power through? Power through! Before I lose interest and abandone this :S

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Everything was right with Sayaka Miki's life, which was a way to say that everything was wrong thought the bluenette as she mentally groaned at being late for school AGAIN.

"Kyoko! Hurry up!" shouted Sayaka while banging at the bathroon door with a fist.

"Yeah yeah, Sayaka why don' you just let it be? We're late anyway" answered the redhead's voice from the other side. Sayaka groaned while grabbing her foot with a hand. She had stubbed it against a table shortly after waking up and looking at the time.

_If Kazuko-sensei sees me late again I'm dead_, thought the bluenette banging the bathroom door again.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"We're late! We're late!" shouted Sayaka at the top of her lungs, her breathing unsteady as she grabbed her redhead "friend" and ran for it.

"Hey! Still eatin'!" replied Kyoko between mouthfuls of bread as the bluenette dragged her on.

"You could have eaten more if you had woken up early. Seriously! Why didn't you wake me!" said Sayaka, distress marking her features and breathless as they approached the school. Just a little more, just a little more.

"I was tired you idiot!" replied the redhead, her face twisting into a sneer "and how not to be? After you were so rough with me last night..." she continued making a lewd face that made Sayaka stammer and almost fall to the ground.

"Don't put it like that!" replied Sayaka, her face red. They had only been studying and played some videogames, nothing of the sort...yet._ No no no, I'm a girl_, _as Hitomi says, its forbidden love, control yourself Sayaka_. The bluenette chastised herself as she felt her face heating up at the thought.

"Geez Sayaka! I was just kiddin'!" replied Kyoko amused at Sayaka's strange behavior. "Didn't think you had such a thing for me" she continued batting her eyelashes.

"Shut up you idiot! Lets go!" Sayaka forcefully grabbed the redhead's hand again (which felt uncomfortably hot, or is that me?) and made her way to school.

She mused at how she had ended in such a predicament. Shortly after Hitomi and Kyosuke started going out Sayaka had been really depressed and had gone to shop groceries (more like all the junk food she had found) intending to choke herself on ice-cream while watching drama movies (yeah all the better to forget about him...right...) only to be robbed of her newly bought bag by a certain redheaded delinquent.

Being the heroine of justice she is, Sayaka had followed her...only to have the living daylights beaten out of her as Kyoko always "lovingly" described the meeting to their acquaitances. The roles had reversed as Sayaka had saved the delinquent girl from a gang shortly after and the two were forced to escape by hiding among trash cans.

Shortly after she had invited the redhead to her home to wash herself, and the rest was history. The redhead had revealed how she had no home nor parents, the two had struck a quick friendship as Kyoko helped her get over Kyosuke and became a freeloader along with a light and a good friend in Sayaka's lonely existence. It had all been so fast and so weird that it was almost a happy dream...

But that's another story.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

After a long lecture from Kazuko-sensei and the promise they wouldn't be late again, Sayaka had made her way to her desk. Passing by the "transfer student" that received her with a small wave and an understanding smile, and also passing by the "devil" that sneered at her as if laughing at Sayaka's predicament.

Sayaka returned the favor with a glare.

It was strange how the two had begun their enmity, Sayaka didn't remember Homura to have ever done anything to her, neither Sayaka to Homura yet they always were cold to each other and Sayaka felt a burning hatred of the black haired girl whenever the two looked at each other.

If Sayaka could compare the girl with something, it would be a devil. She felt as if somehow everything wrong that happened to her had Homura's signature on it. As crazy as that was.

Everytime she tried to talk with Kyosuke or Madoka something seemed to happen that derailed her attemps. A teacher would talk to her, a fight would break between Kyoko and someone and she would have to put out the fire, she would get smacked by tomatoes...or she would just forget what she was doing. And EVERY. SINGLE. TIME, Homura would be there, laughing that insane laugh more fitting for a slasher movie.

The universe itself seemed to conspire against her too and bring her close to Kyoko. Sayaka wouldn't mind so if things weren't so ridiculous or embarassing,_like that one time with Kyoko and the post shower brawl_...thought the bluenette trying to prevent her already reddening face to become to noticeable.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"Why don't we just go straight to her and talk?" said a sing song voice.

"Yeah and risk meeting Her face to face, genius?" answered a cold stoic voice.

"I'm just tired of you going all Batman on everything. I can't believe I was so boring" replied the voice in dissaproval.

"And I can't believe I became such a wuss, no wonder everything went like this" replied the stoic one with a monotone tone.

"Who are you calling wuss, stalker"

"Who are YOU calling stalker, weakling!" answered the monotone voice, rage seeping in her voice. Now shut up and watch.

"Witch~" said the sing song voice.

"You're one to talk..."

Sayaka looked at her back and then at the classroom'w window. The strange feeling she was being followed never leaving her. It had been a week already and it was making her paranoid. It was bad enough having that devil around her from time to time, but this was another level. She swore she saw shadows moving at the corner of her eyes and strands of black hair.

_Maybe I'm going mad_... thought Sayaka as she continued cleaning the now abandoned classroom. Her punishment for being late. And that Kyoko was supposed to help..._wonder where she went, that lazy ass_, thought Sayaka with anger. But when we get hope she'll receive the reprimand of her life.

"Miki Sayaka" said a cold monotone voice that Sayaka knew all too well, the presence she wanted to see the least in her predicament. The bluenette raised her head and there she was, the stoic black haired devil looking at her with a bored expression, very unlike the sinister smile she sported all the time.

"I'm not in the mood Homura, what do you want?" snapped Sayaka with more rage than she expected.

"We need to talk" replied Homura short and to the point. _Strange_, thought Sayaka,_ usually she behaves more flowery and arrogant..._

"Well...then talk" answered Sayaka looking at those familiar hollow eyes.

"Not here" answered Homura quickly while staring at her surroundings. "We need to go to a more...private place" she finished.

_What is she talking about? Is she trying to...oh no no no, if she's planning to confess It'll be really uncomfortable when we meet at the hallway, besides what Kyoko will think...wait? Why does it matter what Kyoko thinks? _Thought Sayaka blushing a little against her will.

"No, either we talk here or nowhere at all!" said the bluenette marking the line. _I'm sick of your cryptic talk and mind games!_

A sigh, "well, so be it" said Homura simply as she grabbed a strange circular object in her arm.

Strange, thought Sayaka as she just noticed the strange clothing Homura was wearing. It was so similar to the school uniform that she hadn't noticed, except white and purple and strangely familiar...

Suddenly Sayaka felt a strong sharp pain at the back of her head and everything went black.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Ow ow ow ow! thought the bluenette, her eyes still closed. What did just happen...the last thing she remembered was that annoying Homura standing before her, then a confession, and then...ow! The whole world was spinning before her and her body felt stiff.

"I said talk to her, not knock her out!" said a familiar and annoyed voice Sayaka barely recognized.

"I talked to her. Then I knocked her out" replied the monotone voice of Homura.

"Way to go jerk, now she'll never trust us!" answered the first voice even more annoyed. "Seriously, you should work in your people skills for once"

"Oh sorry, miss I can handle it! Wait, you can't! That's why we're in this predicament!"

Sayaka opened her eyes. _Yep, I've gone mad._

Otherwise there was no explanation as to why there were two Homuras in front of her. The two girls were staring at each other with evident anger but quickly returned to the familiar monotone as Sayaka started to move, staring at the bluenette girl at the same time with their familiar cold eyes. It only managed to make Sayaka feel even more uneasy.

Both Homuras were dressed exactly the same, black stockings with a purple diamond pattern and a white dress that looked very similar to a school uniform. The only differente being that one Homura wore that round shaped disc on her left arm and a black hairband while the other wore a red ribbon (aren't those Madoka's?) and a smile that made Sayaka feel even more creeped out.

"Oh finally you're awake!" answered the ribbon Homura while smiling kindly at Sayaka. The other Homura made no sound whatsoever and just stared at her with the same bored expression.

Sayaka screamed.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**End Notes:**

_And the pieces are entering the game. Now sorry to disappoint the reviewers but this isn't exactly a Oriko/Kirika fic :S_

_They'll still appear but most probably won't be playing a prominent role on the story. I might give them more protagonism later or in another one though..._

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼


	5. Chapter 5

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL.**

**Chapter V - Devil.**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Author Notes:**

This one is mostly for comedy and exposition and certainly OOC but couldn't resist making one about our beloved Homucifer. You can consider it part of the story or just skip it.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Flipping through the pages of the Evil Overlord list in the darkness of her home, the light filtering from her window the only thing illuminating the dreary pages. Her hand making circles absentmindedly over a cup of her favorite punch (mmmm melon!) Homura Akemi let out a sigh of frustration.

_This just isn't sinking in_, thought the girl as she left the pages at the side of her sumptuous wooden table and stared at the glass noticing what she had just made. A tornado had formed in the depths of her glass, the ice cubes having deformed and turned into beautiful geometric multicolored shapes without her noticing. It reminded her of that one movie she had seen about the ice making girl and her sister, how the girl had to slowly kill her emotions to focus on her mission and the weight of them had driven the two further apart, how in the end it had been too much and it had destroyed her. Homura could certainly identify with that and she remembered how she started to tear up at the end of the movie.

_But unlike that movie, this is reality_, Homura tried to remember as she felt the familiar feeling of loss that didn't go away no matter how much she tried._ You don't save, you hurt. You are a devil and you certainly don't get the girl!_

The windows of her home started to shake as the storm raged outside and Homura tried to compose herself, lest her emotions destroy everything. The storm calmed down with only a strong wind and the eternal black clouds as a testament to the black haired girl's sadness, and the beautiful fractal pattern in her glass dissolved into sour grapes. "Ugh", said Homura at having seen her delicious melon punch turn into the same bitter wine all her beverages ended as.

Still, being evil was a task easier said than done, as Homura had just learned after her first months working as an omnipotent being. Truth being, after having spent so much of her life trying to save Her, Homura Akemi just wasn't really that creative at how to DO evil.

Sure she had made great headway after having made her meticulous research, because if one thing had stayed a constant in Homura's chaotic being was her OCD.

For example, she had great success at stealing the left socks in the laundry machines all over the world! She cackled mad at the idea of their owners anguish and despair when they found they had a mismatching sock, or...or...when she put that plastic bottle in the can recycling compartment!

Homura cackled at the thought of the garbageman's displeasure and horror at finding the plastic bottle among the set of cans.

Or that one time she made graffity...sure it was made with chalk...and in a chalkboard...but she had made sure the grammar was all wrong! Muahahahaha!

Sure not all had gone so well, like that time when she decided to stop washing her hands and Madoka was made to work with her, the guilt at Madoka touching her filthy hands had been so great she had to spend the whole recess crying in the bathroom and washing throughly with soap...or that time when she decided to cross the street without looking at both sides and was run over by a car, that one certainly hurt...

"Yeah, I'm so evil!" Laughed Homura thinking about her many evil plans like spoiling the end of movies and jaywalking, muahahaha!

She hit her head against the table.

"I suck at being evil..." she groaned.

She stared at the window where the weather had calmed down, the black clouds rolling around lazily as she thought of more worrysome things.

Truth is, running the world was an extremely tiring task for a limited human being as she had learned. Even one with omnipotence such as her had lots of things to worry about.

Homura had spent the last few weeks trying to hook Sayaka with Kyoko but to her annoyance the bluenette seemed to instinctively reject everything Homura did for her. _Why can't she understand I'm doing it for her own good!_

Homura had done all in her hands to make it happen, from having Kyoko notice and rob Sayaka to having the gang attack them so that Sayaka could go all heroine of justice and impress Kyoko while at the same time taking care so that the gang couldn't severely hurt them. She had made a fricking carnival for Her sake! And even after having Hitomi and Kyosuke showing up so that Sayaka worked up her problems, the girl simply refused to let it go...thunder roared outside Homura's home.

She also had to create several adventures, that usually involve Kyoko..., so that Sayaka could feed her "hero" compulsion and wouldn't cause trouble to her perfect world or Madoka.

Then there was Mami and Bebe, she had to be careful with them and keep Mami as busy as possible with the Puella Magi life so that she wouldn't notice Madoka. It certainly was easy without having Kyubey to worry about and Bebe as a company for Tomoe to not be lonely.

And then there was HER...thought Homura with a sigh, feeling the butterflies in her stomach. It almost...just almost didn't hurt nearly as much. Homura had taken the care to give Madoka the happiest lifetime she deserved to honor her sacrifice and to make up for the unhappy existence her wish brought to all the Madokas of the many timelines.

It was really good that Homura had memorized her likes so well that she could recite them asleep. She made sure everyday was special and different from the rest for the pinkette, carefully weaving events so that Madoka always won, always found a nice surprise. Taking special care so that the weather was somewhat cold but not so much where Madoka was, just like she liked it, that the light was always shining so that Madoka wouldn't get scared of the dark and even spent her nights crafting beautiful dreams in Madoka's mind

Waving a hand Homura materialized her latest creation for Madoka in the depths of her glass, the wine turning clear and showing a cumulus of flickering lights and snow. Homura smiled with glee.

It had taken her quite some effort to arrange it, an interstelar pattern she had made so that it would spell Madoka's name in kanji for her to see while at the same time arranging for a fractal pattern in the shape of a flower (a flower Homura had crafted with her bare hands, no magic used...) using snow and moonlight that would be seen only one night from a far away galaxy for one hour only. Homura only needed to find a way to have Madoka see it without it being too suspicious, _most probably through a dream_, thought the black haired girl slightly sad she couldn't enjoy it with Madoka.

"Master, sorry to interrupt but I have reports" said a childish voice inside Homura's mind. Breaking her of her reverie and making the black haired girl sigh in frustration.

"What is it, Incubator" answered Homura through the omiversal mind, her pulse sending a shiver through all the Incubators in the universe to make her displeasure known.

"First, the experiment has been successul and they are hatching, mistress" said the Incubator with the same clinical tone she was familiar. _Good, very good_, thought Homura darkly.

"And second, a body of mine just located the entity you refer to as Homulily" the Incubator continued, a hint of...fear in its voice at the possiblity of Homura's displeasure.

"What!?" The world started flickering madly and Homura was instantly on the moon, the place she had stablished a base of operations to monitor the planet. The Incubator in front of her.

"Yes master, a body of mine just reported abnormal activity at Mikune Oriko's residence but was obliterated before it was able to compile information" the Incubator continued. "A second body was sent to investigate but we could only find the remnants of Oriko Mikune and Kirika Kure's human bodies. No sight of their Soul Gems or the invading entity has been found"

"Damn it!" said Homura with anger in her voice as the moon shook, her base pulsating like a sick agitated heart.

As if keeping Madoka happy and unaware of her godess status wasn't hard enough now she also had to fight against herself. Homura didn't know when it had begun, or why for that matter. Only as a small voice at the back of her head, Homura was used to it so much she didn't pay it attention.

But the condition worsened, the voice became several and then shadows started appearing before Homura during the thin line of sleep and wakefulness, until...one day...those...things came out of her body and escaped before she could do anything about it.

And now there were Madokami's know many Homura roaming around the world, each a danger to her secret and perfect world.

And if only Homura could use her omnipotence to wish them away, but she learned during her first days as an omnipotent being that she still had several limits she couldn't trespass. For one, she couldn't be everywhere at once or grant herself omniscience, somehow her mind was unable to cope with the overwhelming information. She also couldn't wish her familiars away, despite how annoying they could be with their Gott is tot and all that, and she couldn't comand them fully, only give them simple commands, even then they were unreliable.

She also couldn't fix the moon for some weird reason, the other half gone to somewhere even Homura couldn't follow. And she couldn't kill the other Homuras...this was the greatest danger as she couldn't destroy them directly, something in their beings prevented her from doing so and she had to affect them indirectly, so she had resorted to consume them just as she had done with the foolish braided Homura she had absorbed.

Given those limitations, Homura had to resort to this...her beautiful experiments standing across from her, girls brought from the mortal world and fed with raw despair without Contracting, their flesh twisted by the corruption as the deformed bodies broke apart and moaned. They would hatch into powerful non-witches, more akin to what Homura was now, but not powerful enough to pose a threat to her.

She would use them as hounds and protectors of her new world. Sure it was cruel, she had taken them from the age of 3 to 18 to see which method was more powerful, but if it meant to protect her perfect world, it was certainly worth it.

"Incubator. accelerate the experiment, I want them ready before next week" spoke Homura coldly to the Kyubey standing before her. No more time to lose, she needed to destroy the other Homuras before they could imperil her efforts.

"Yes, master" the Incubator before her bowed.

Homura teleported back to earth_. No more time to lose, gotta leave my special surprise to Madoka, catch and destroy the other me's and find how to do evil the right way_, thought Homura making plans.

That night the constelations ordered themselves in a peculiar pattern that bewildered scientists everywhere, on unrelated news an unexpected blizzard and snow storm killed hundreds of people across the globe.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**End Notes:**

What can I say? I love the irony of the situation.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼


	6. Chapter 6

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA - FRACTAL.**

**Chapter VI - Fear.**

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Author Notes:**

Well, as long as I'm not remembered as the guy that opened the can of worms that's Rebellion on FF heheh.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

Explosions, fire, brimstone and the smell of charred flesh filled the place, ameliorating the pain in her chest and making her hunger, hunger for their despair and their screams of pain.

_For I am the existence that rebels agains the order of things, the corruption dwelling within her heart and the thoughts she doesn't dare to admit. The shadow of the existence that is Akemi Homura...and thus I hate, thus I revile and corrupt. Destruction's my wish, despair is my prayer..._

"Rarararara!" screams a thundering voice at her left and she sees another scum charging towards her, a small green veiled girl wielding a sword way too big for her own good. Still her form looks diminute compared to the abomination she charges and Homulily fixates her stare on her. Instantly images flash on her mind telling the lifestory of the attacker.

Aoi Hanegawa, 13 years old. Single daughter of a merchant family that was bored with her life and decided to spice it up by wishing to become a hero. Her low despair potential forcing her to team up with the Pleiades Saints to control the territory. Such a waste...thinks the towering menace as a pulse is created, a set of murderous impulses and hatred for all life, filled with a small dose of scorn to rub salt in the wound.

In less than a second the thought traveled through the thelepatic pathways and reached the wriggling form of Margot that had just finished off a blue haired girl, reducing her to little more than a pool of blood and gore. Margot received the pulse and like a tiny seed planted in the labyrinthian mind of the wretched abomination it grew and transformed, visions of Oriko laughing at her, humilliating her, _you never meant a thing for me..._ Oriko her beloved, she loved, loved, loved, loved!

"Aoi!" screamed a blonde girl far away at the sight of the green veiled girl being intercepted by the slick and deformed shape of Margot, the witch constricting the girl's legs and torso in her enlongated body and using its many maws to eat her alive. The girl screamed and struggled to escape her grasp as Margot dragged her far away from the battle ground and into the shadows extending from Homulily, the horrible sounds of flesh tearing apart and the snapping of bone like a chorus of madness. Homulily's hunger intensified...

"Bastard!" screamed another redhead wearing a wooden spear with runes, the sight making Homulily stammer as if remembering an old memory...haze, friendship and big loss...

A pulse of warning surged through the telepathic network and alerted Homulily just in time as the spear carrier made a thrust towards the witch's face. It came from Cassandra, a vision of a bluff, _so this one doesn't matter..._thought Homulily moving to the side and turning around to smack her bony hands deep into the chest of a magical girl dressed all in leather that tried to sneak on Homulily from behind, instantly breaking her Soul Gem in the process.

Another telephatic command and the spearbearer got impaled by Margot. _I was right in recruiting these two,_ thought Homulily with glee.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"Kazumi-san...I'm scared..." whispered the tiny form of Yuma Chitose while embracing the leg of her leader, Kazumi did the only thing she could think of, giving the small green haired girl her best smile and stroking her hair,_ don't let her notice my hands are trembling.._. thought the leader of the Pleiades. "I won't let them hurt you, I promise" A white lie, but what can she say to the little girl pleading to her for a way out of their dilemma.

"Umika! Are you finished yet?" Kazumi asks the blue haired girl with glasses at her side, doing her best to supress her trembling voice. Another rumble and the lights flicker over their command center, a huge abandoned concrete building where they established their headquarters after their group started growing out of control.

The Pleiades Saints began as a small group of wraith hunters in the small city of Asunaro. Due to the small population they usually had little trouble holding on their territory and one morning they decided, _if we can protect this city easily, why not expand and help the other Puella Magi?_

And so they had grown, expanding over several cities, taking as many Puella Magi as they could on their protective wings. Of course, the more girls they had and the more famous they became, the more enemies they accumulated. Fame garnered fear after all, and kindness could be turned into greed within their group. Kazumi knew that much.

And so they had created the Fridge. A barrier crafted using their shared magic and Umika's knowledge to "freeze over" the Soul Gems of those Puella Magi that attacked them. Forever trapped in stasis within their stronghold. It provided both political advantage and was seen by most of the Pleiades as a kinder fate than destroying their Soul Gem. Their bodies recoverable anytime.

Up to this day Kazumi wondered if they were doing the right thing or delluding themselves into thinking they were the good guys, taking over other Puella Magi territories for the "greater good". She feared today was the day they would pay for their sins.

"Kazumi! Hey Kazumi!" the Pleiades leader was awaken from its stupor to find Umika talking to her face to face.

"Ah...what is it Umika? Did you find a way to counter them?" asked Kazumi with a sliver of hope in her voice. Still, Umika's somber expression quickly killed the spark.

"Not yet...I'm certain now that they aren't wraiths but I can't detrermine what they are or how to stop them" Kazumi felt her heart stopping at that. "...yet" finished Umika trying to comfort her leader.

"I know a few things though, for one the one that looks like a worm has the ability to slow down attackers." Right, so we avoid melee and deploy ranged attackers, thought Kazumi summarizing and crafting battle plans.

"Second, they're getting feedback from the white one" continued Kazumi looking at the advancing white pilar with what looked like an eye with sclera, out of the three attackers it had remained static and avoided battle which made them believe it was the leader.

"That one can perceive the future" continued Umika. Another rumble and the lights flickered again, the screams of girls coming closer as they saw the shadows almost over their stronghold. "As of the last one...I can't read anything but I'm almost sure she's the leader" finished Umika, fright evident in her voice.

"Roger" said Kazumi with finality. Alright, deploy ranged attackers against the worm, send melee against the white one and contain the Halloween girl until they finished the others._ Easy enough_ thought Kazumi with a grimace.

"Alright Jyubey give me a hand!" said Kazumi to the black and white Incubator that stood on the corner of the room, his blue eyes steady. The Incubator opened the telepathic networm and Kazumi was instantly immersed in the sea of thoughts and emotions of all the Pleiades. The network was particularly distressed and the despair raged like a storm in her head, the pull trying to break her sanity apart.

_Focus Kazumi, focus! _One particular sector, the ones at the front lines, discard the rest.

_They're tearing us apart!_

_Aaaah my leg! She got my leg!_

_Umika, Kazumi, where the fuck are the reinforcements! We need them, now!_

_Lost...lost...there's no point...mommy is that you?_

"This is Kazumi! Whoever can hear this I want a report of your status now!" pulsed Kazumi as fast as she could, which was the speed of thought.

"Kaoru here! Oh god, Kazumi, we need reinforcements! They already tore through the protective barrier and..." Kaoru seemed to choke here, her despair pulsing through the telepathic link and adding up to the already chaotic network, "they took Mirai...oh god...they turned her too!"

"What did you say!? Kaoru put yourself together!" asked Kazumi as she felt the ground trembling under them.

"They...*sob* I don't know...I don't know...but they're turning us into them! I'm sorry Kazumi but I can't...I can't..."

"Kaoru! What are you doing?!" pulsed Kazumi desperate. There was no answer.

"Kaoru!"

"Usagi here, Kaoru just destroyed her Soul Gem! We need help! They're getting in! And they are multiplying!" pulsed another familiar voice through the network. More headache inducing screaming filled the network and Kazumi wished there was some way to make the voices stop.

The sound of metal breaking and Kazumi knew those things had just passed through the front door. _Turning us into them_, thought Kazumi trying to piece what Kaoru meant by that,_ if they really can reproduce using Puella Magi then that means...oh no!_

"Alright everyone! Retreat to the core! Melee, I want you to concentrate and surround the white one, avoid confrontation with the worm at all cost. Ranged, supressive fire on the worm, don't let it get close to our girls! Casters...if there are caster here, I want you to craft a barrier against the skeleton! Don't let them get close to the Fridge!"

Having given the orders, Kazumi transformed to her Puella Magi outfit. When she was a rookie she was often annoyed at how skimpy it was even if it provided ease of movement. Over the years she had made minor modifications to it until she had reached her actual state. A long flowing black cloak hiding her features, far more conservative but still retaining her pointy hat.

Being on it gave her confidence, time had come for her to enter the fray. Not that she was scared of it, but before that...

"Yuma-chan, come here" said Kazumi with the calmest tone she could manage given the situation. The tiny green haired girl came closer.

"Yes, Kazumi-san?"

"Look, we're about to enter battle" another rumble and more screams, the despair thick in the air. "But there's something I want you to do" continued Kazumi, her eyes fixed on the ones of the little girl, her face scared but hopeful.

Kazumi breathes again, "I need you to go to Kazamino and tell the girls there about this so that they can...help us rebuild, okay?" Right...things Kazumi cynical. The girl in front of her seems to have seen through her lie too.

"Its okay Yuma, we won't lose!" Tries to say Kazumi with a half smile. "Now, its very important, go!"

"Roger that" And with that the green haired girl starts running towards the exit. She's too young to die anyway.

With that worry gone, Kazumi materializes her staff and looks at her side to see Umika, tears still in her eyes (Kaoru was a good friend...) but determination in her features. The two stare and nod together, they have a battle to win.

_Its a good day to die anyway_, is Kazumi's last thought as she enters the fray.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

_Tear, rend, break..._those are the thoughts that fill your mind, an endless hate for this world that makes you take special delight in inflicting punishment to these girls.

Still, your reasoning lets you consider the battle conditions and prepare a measure of strategy, something that you pride yourself in displaying. The witches of the old world ranged from the simplest automatons, performing their tasks as if guided by a compulsion they couldn't avoid, to the cunning but still mostly animalistic ones.

You wonder about it briefly as your hands spill the guts from a still kicking and screaming (especially screaming...) Puella Magi foolish enough to try to attack you. You let yourself indulge on the taste of her flesh, something your witch nature craves so much and twist what's left of her into a mockery of what she was in life. It pleases you.

In front of you Margot fends off the assault of several ranged attackers, their arrows, sears, slings and other assorted weaponry making heavy damage on her spongy flesh. You feel almost lucky then when you order your newest acquisition, a Cheshire like witch that you "borrowed" from a cowardly girl that thought escaping from battle was a good idea, to heal Margot. The green haired Cheshire grins madly as the flesh of Margot quickly regenerates, to the frustration of the attackers.

Meanwhile you've had excellent results fending off Cassandra's attackers and you're almost surprised they were able to coordinate and adapt so fast to your assaults. Also, having the opportunity to reduce them to a puddle of goo was particularly satisfactory.

After beheading another particularly resistant Puella Magi wielding a huge hammer, you see a barrier in front of you, the result of powerful magecraft. You stare at the white walls of the entrance, the ranged attackers still trying to stop your attack.

Or at least you think so, the vision of witches is very different from that of normal humans and as such it becomes disconcerting from time to time. The entire world a mishmash of shadows and memories, objects appearing as abstractions of how the Puella Magi saw the objects in life. Humans, particularly tasty red threads that walk and bleed and scream...and Puella Magi and other magical constructs as almost impossibly white, blindingly so.

You watch the eyes through the ones of Margot and the door looks like a mass of dirty blonde hair you remember belonging to a certain seer. You order Margot to strike the door down, and you watch as expected, how the door doesn't even batter at Margot's bulky mass attacks.

You know its a risky venture coming here, unlike the retrieval of Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure this place is more notorious, the purpose more obvious and the assault has taken more time than expected. Still, as you watch through several pairs of maddened eyes, She is working on something, probably another stupid project for that goddess you think in scorn.

_Well, time to stop playing_, you think as you step in front of Margot and raise your bony hands to the sides. The ranged attackers concentrate their assault on you but they make little more than dent your bony structure.

Shadows converge around your figure and the world seems to freeze cold...and then they shoot out of your hands like a wave of destruction, a materialization of your hunger.

Its very effective...the magical barrier is reduced to rubble and the ranged attackers scream in pain as their bodies rot and their minds break, you're a little sad you weren't able to make them suffer a little more though.

And there you are...the Fridge. The place where the pieces that will grant you victory lie.

Along with several dozens of magical girls, their nervousness apparent in their faces.

"Now!" screams the leader, an artificial girl you knew as Kazumi from past timelines. A girl that unlike Oriko worked at your side as much as against you. Always witching out when learning the nature of her condition, you lick your lips at the possibility of turning her to your side.

But first you have to take care of several attacking Puella Magi. Cassandra tells you the easiest path towards Umika and Kazumi and you follow, leaving Margot to feast on their bodies.

You tear apart all those that get in the way until you are almost face to face with Umika and Kazumi. Umika is trembling and her breathing is accelerated. The bespectacled girl summons her spellbook and shoots an ancient flame attack, one of the most powerful belonging to an ancient and legendary Puella Magi, her legend nothing in this world compared to the one in the world of witches.

The flames, dragon flames, spread towards you with Umika's fury and burning like the sun. Intending to scorch your face off...

Only to be stopped by your wall of shadows as if it was nothing, the cold taking in the fire and extinguishing.

"Kazumi, now!" apparently it was a bluff...

Kazumi jumps in the air, her form agile and acrobatic as she points her staff at you.

You feel a burning pain in the chest as the magical beam tears apart your body, the smell of burnt bone filling the place. This only makes you more hungry though.

You laugh madly as Kazumi falls to the floor panting, you could have healed the damage easily enough but have Cheshire do it for you. You'll need all the magic you can use in case She decides to appear.

"Impossible!" whispers Umika as she grabs Kazumi from the arm and readies another spell to constrain you.

She isn't able to, though.

Faster than thought itself you lunge at her and tear her apart with your claws, the book falling to the place, ripped in half...just like its owner. Blood trickles down from Umika as Kazumi lunges at you but to no avail, catching her between your maws she screams, and then she laughs, having become just like you.

Umika suffers the same fate shortly after.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**Cassandra, the witch of bad omen.**

**Nature:** Defeatist.

The witch of bad omen, this witch manifests as a robbed white eye with sclera that sits on her barrier, an ivory tower, where she perceives the future. The weight of the world rests on her shoulders as she perceives all sort of tragic events and horrors, always watching but unable to do a thing about it. The witch has surrendered to her fate and the oppressive wheel of destiny that wears at her with the knowledge of a future that can't be changed.

Her only consolation is sharing her horrifying visions with the humans that enter her barrier, their comatose bodies trapped forever as testament of the witch's suffering.

**Margot, the worm witch.**

**Nature:** Desperate.

The worm witch, this witch had something precious to her in life but was unable to protect it. Now, her memories muddy and her hopes shattered, this witch wriggles on the ground like the worm she sees herself as. Always hungry, always looking for the one that mattered to her the most.

Those that stand in the way of her precious and Margot will be consumed with zeal. Now if only she could remember what she so valued...

**Cheshire, the smiling witch.**

**Nature:** Kind.

The smiling witch, unsure of her place in the world, this green haired cat like witch grins trying to hide her grief at having been robbed out of the only family she knew.

She will heal anyone, friend or foe as long as they can whisper the right words.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**End Notes:**

Thanks again for the reviews. I just found it ironic being that I, the guy that criticized Rebellion on MAL and Reddit (but no, I'm not Novasylum) am the only one making post-Rebellion fanfics XD

Truth be told, I don't like Rebellion. I really tried but there are so many flaws IMHO that for a time I disowned it too and killed all desire to keep writing MadoHomu fics. I dig the concept of Homucifer though, but the execution just wasn't to my liking.

I'm working on a doujin/graphic novel right now that's an attempt to unify the events of the series, Madokami's world, and Rebellion trying to fix what I couldn't stand from the movie and expanding on the mythos using literature from here, the excellent communal work Magical Girl Noir Quest, classical literature (Faust, Paradise Lost, Shakespeare...), Watchmen, and basically all I can find :P

I have a rough script of what it will be like but am open for ideas and recommendations on what you liked/didn't like from the Madoka mythos.

P.D. And yes, I'm that OCD.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿◕人＼


	7. Chapter 7

**PUELLA MAGI MADOKA FRACTAL**

**Author Notes:**

Won't be leaving this until finished. Just had a busy month and had this waiting like forever.

**／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

**CHAPTER VII - Explanation.**

**／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"What! Why? I've gone mad, right? I have to be insane!" said Miki Sayaka, tied to a chair in what appeared to be a concrete bunker with two Akemi Homura for company. Out of all the crazy things the bluenette had seen and done in her short but fullfilling life, this one was the weirdest by far…and also one of the most unpleasant.

"I'd say yes, you're insane. But this situation is real and is happening" replied the Homura with the buckler. Unfazed as always. "Now if you focus, it would be very helpful"

"But how, why, this can't happen!" continued the bluenette not paying attention to the two Akemis.

"Look, we'll explain everything in short, okay?" answered the ribbon Homura trying to sound calming, raising her two hands as a sign of trust.

"Then explain!"

"I was a timetraveler trying to save Madoka, she became a Godess and I became a demon to trap her and we need your help to set her free and save the universe, deal with it." Said buckler Homura in the same monotone.

"…what?"

A sigh, "look, what batman here tried to say is that…" started ribbon Homura.

"What?! You're Batman?!" Sayaka interrupted.

Both Homura rolled their eyes in annoyance. _Now that's creepy_, thought Sayaka.

"Told you it was pointless to rely on her" whispered buckler Homura to her counterpart.

"You may be right but we still need to try" replied ribbon Homura in turn.

"But having to go through all this trouble…you know Kyoko would be far more useful"

"I know, I know. But she's the one closest to Madoka" continued ribbon Homu.

"Hello! I'm still here!" interrupted Sayaka, annoyed at the lack of attention. "And would you untie me?"

"Not yet, we need to know if we can trust you" answered buckler Homura without looking at her, as if she wasn't of concern at all. This pissed off the bluenette more than anything. _This is so like her_, she thought.

"And what if I don't want to help?" asked Sayaka defiant.

*Click* in less than it took Sayaka to blink a gun was pointing directly at her forehead, the cold metal making her stifle a gasp and her body stiffen.

"Then you're of no use to us or Madoka" answered the buckler Homura staring at the bluenette with her cold dead eyes.

"Akemi, stop!" said ribbon Homura while grabbing her counterpart's hand. "This isn't the way, we need to explain to her what's happening. You aren't like her, okay? We are not monsters"

That seemed to do the trick and after giving a deep breath and closing her eyes, the timetraveler finally lowered her gun.

"You…you really were going to shoot, weren't you?" The fear turned into adrenalin, which in turn turned into rage. "I knew you were insane!"

"Sayaka, stop!" said ribbon Homura sternly. "Look, this is what we'll do. I'll untie you if you promise to stay here and listen to what we have to say"

"And why should I do that?" continued Sayaka defiant. She had been certain from the moment they met that she hated Homura Akemi with all her being. Her insufferable attitude, acting like she knew better than everyone, always looking at her as if she was a bomb about to explode. If there was a word to describe her as, it would be a devil.

"Because I'm asking you for help. I need you, and I'm not one to ask for favours. You know that. So please…listen" Answered ribbon Homura as if pleading for the bluenette to listen to her. This…this is different, and for a single instant Sayaka felt as if this Homura was an okay person. For an instant she felt that she represented all that the things the Homura she knew was not.

Sayaka sighed.

"Okay, I'll listen but keep your other…your other…whatever she is under control!"

"We have a deal" said ribbon Homura as she untied the bluenette from the chair while the other Homura looked away from the two, as if supressing the urge to say or do something that could ruin the plan.

Grabbing at her wrists, that had turned red due to the rope the bluenette gave a long sigh and gave the Homuras all her attention. _I must really be insane to take this seriously…_thought the bluenette. "Alright, speak!"

"Okay, please listen for this will take some time" said ribbon Homura as she visibly steeled herself to retell the tragedy that had been her life from the beginning. Taking a last breath she started.

"There was a time…" and so she told the bluenette of a time that wasn't, a time in which she had been a single troubled girl with heart problems and an even worse self-esteem. How she had met and befriended Kaname Madoka, Sayaka Miki and Tomoe Mami. How the Incubator came to them with hollow promises and had destroyed their lives. How she had travelled across the world, in a personal race against time trying to defy their horrible fates and failing again and again.

How Madoka had sacrificed her entire being to give everyone a chance at a new life and how Sayaka had died shortly after making her wish. In the end, the toll had been too much for Homura and through Kyubey's machinations she had fallen to despair and turned into a demon, a being powerful enough to overthrow Madoka herself and defile everything, making a mockery of her sacrifice.

Ribbon Homura stopped at this part to regain her breath. Her eyes lacked the spark they displayed before and now looked as hollow as those of her doppleganger.

"If that really happened…if what you say is true, then how come you are here? How can I trust you aren't accomplices of the devil?" asked Sayaka now that she had the chance. If she had thought of Homura as suspicious now she had every reason to be mustrustful to her words, and being honest, it was quite hard to believe all those things had happened for real rather than being all a product of Homura's insane mind. But then, why were there two of her?

"Don't you dare compare us to her!" burst buckler Homura in a sudden display of emotion, or as close to emotion as possible which was still fairly mechanical in Sayaka's mind. As if that Homura was just imitating the mannerisms of human beings but felt only a memory of that rage inside. It was creepy…

"Everybody calm down!" said ribbon Homura sternly, the beginnings of a headache setting in. "Now to answer your questions Miki Sayaka, if we planned to trick you it would be pointless to go through all this trouble to tell you everything, wouldn't it?" said ribbon Homura matter of factly.

"Yes but…why are you here in the first place?" said Sayaka still wondering if she could trust these…whatever they were.

"To be honest…we have no idea" said ribbon Homura at that.

"You don't? Then what…"

"She's conflicted" said buckler Homura having finally returned back to her monotone self. "It all started with a small voice in her head, 'what do you want?'. You see, when she became a demon her desires overcame her common sense and all the emotions we had been bottling up to that point, emotions powerful enough to power Puella Magi abilities finally exploded in her. But raw power enough is useless for someone without the willpower to control it." Said buckler Homura evidently displeased with her own actions and lack of restraint.

"We aren't sure about it but my hypotheses is that she had different conflicting desires pooling inside her, and being a creature of desire, she subconsciously materialized them in forms that represented each of them. That's what happens when desire rules over will" finished buckler Homura with a dark chuckle. _Definitely can't like her_, thought Sayaka.

"So you two are the representation of her desires?" said Sayaka trying to wrap her head around everything.

"Not only us, we know two more escaped" answered ribbon Homura at that.

"That's great! Then we have numeric superiority to stop her! Where are they?" said Sayaka with confidence.

The two Homura looked at each other with complicity.

"Look, the truth is…we have no idea where the others are or if they could be useful at all" answered ribbon Homura.

"What? But didn't you escape together or what?" questioned the bluenette, it was getting harder and harder to understand. And it wasn't easier given how cryptic the two were.

"We didn't. The first one to escape, the entity we shall call Homulily escaped a month ago and every week afterwards one of us was given life. But if the actual Homura we are fighting is unstable, Homulily is insane. We have been unable to locate her but we doubt she'd be willing to cooperate or even be rational enough to communicate."

"The other Homura was the last one to escape and represents our desire to befriend Madoka. We expected her to appear in Mitakihara shortly after but we have been unable to track her down which leads us to believe she was…killed by the devil" said ribbon Homura with nervousness.

"Is she that dangerous?" asked Sayaka visibly scared. _Have I really been hanging around such an unstable and dangerous thing all this time? And how much one has to suffer to break like this?_

"As it stands right now only Madoka has a chance to defeat her" said buckler Homura to the bluenette in all seriousness. "As we are also part of her we might have a chance to hurt her but our power is nothing compared to hers and I suggest you avoid any pointless confrontation" she finished giving the bluenette a cautionary look.

"You think the first thing I'll do is attack her, don't you?" It was clear as day that Homura didn't have the best opinions of the bluenette, and their feeling was shared. Ever since they had met she had the feeling Homura was someone dangerous to keep at arms length but only now those thoughts were confirmed.

"But of course" replied buckler Homura with a malicious grin.

"You!"

"Stop it you two!" interrupted ribbon Homura again. Looking at the bluenette straight in the eyes she continued serious. "Look, we need your help because you're the one closest to Madoka and that Homura won't keep track of right now. She still thinks you have no knowledge of what happened and that will be our trump card."

"And what do you need me to do?" asked the bluenette.

"We need you to find a way to reawaken Madoka's power. If you manage to keep her away from the devil long enough for her to regain her memories, she should be able to break free and with her help we can finish her off"

"So basically I just need to talk to her, right? Seems easy enough" was Sayaka's reply. They weren't that close since they didn't have a lifetime of memories together but Madoka had been eating lunch with her and the two had struck a quick friendship when she transferred.

"But you need to be careful, the devil has familiars protecting her and won't let her out of her sight easily. We want to enact a distraction that may give you enough time to take Madoka to a safe place and reveal the truth to her next week. We'll relay the information to you shortly" said ribbon Homura in warning.

"No need to remind me, just how creepy can you get?" replied Sayaka when she thought of the many times she felt she was being watched, in bed, and in the shower…

"Also, just in case. Sayaka, come here" said ribbon Homura preferring to not answer the last question.

"What now?" approaching warily, Sayaka slowly made her way towards the two Homuras. It was startling just how similar they were, as if they were twins.

Ribbon Homura put her hand over Sayaka's chest.

"Hey! Get your hands off…agh!" replied the bluenette with her face reddening. It passed soon enough after she felt a sharp pain in her chest, where her heart should be. A purple glow came out of ribbon Homura's gem which turned a deep shade of blue, shining like the sea.

And Sayaka felt it. A powerful and very sad melody overpowered her senses, the feelings evoked by Kyosuke's play and the rush of adrenalin she felt when fighting wraiths…wait, when had she done that? It was beautiful, it was tragic, and that feeling was only hers…it may have been less than a second or several eternities. It didn't matter, she wasn't Sayaka Miki anymore, she was a hero of justice.

"Wha…what did you do to me…" asked Sayaka deeply moved by something she couldn't remember. She wiped her eyes with her hand to find them wet with tears, tears of joy. All her body tingled with purpose.

"Its one of my abilities" replied ribbon Homura. "Right now the devil controls the Incubators so giving you another Contract was out of the question, but as herald of Madoka I can reawaken the latent potential of those that fight for her cause. Now try to conjure one of your swords."

She extended one of her hands in reflex, as if she knew those practiced movements since birth. It was crazy, it was impossible and yet…an azure blade shining with the light of the lake, a beacon of justice appeared in her gloved hands. She was a Puella Magi.

"I know its not much, in this reality I barely have enough power to do this and definitely not enough to reawaken your Oktavia transformation but it will be useful in case you have to defend yourself" continued ribbon Homura.

"Its…beautiful, how could I forget? Thank you…Homura" said Sayaka giving her a small but sincere smile. Ribbon Homura smiled in return while buckler Homura only scoffed. "And in order to differentiate you, you will be Homura" said Sayaka while pointing to ribbon Homura, "and you shall be Akemi" the bluenette continued as she pointed to buckler Homura.

_Yes this is my role. I shall be the sword that pierces the heavens to rescue my friend and everyone else from this cycle of suffering_, thought Sayaka with resolution.

"Now, lets save Madoka"

**／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author Notes:**

Stupid FF messed up my formatting and deleted the chapter! Apologies in advance.

Also thanks for everyone that has favorited and reviewed this far! Special thanks to Timmy_Sparks and ChibiOtaku-sama for the feedback!

**／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

**CHAPTER VIII - Desire.**

**／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"The destiny of the entire Universe lies in your hands" resounded in Sayaka Miki's head. That was the last thing that the Homura's said to her as she exited the strange bunker located in the middle of the industrial zone. Neither of them wanted to explain what a middle schooler was doing with such a building and enough explosives to invade a small country, but well considering the enemy they were going against…nothing could surprise her anymore.

More importantly, she couldn't wait to test her newly acquired abilities although the Homu's had warned her against doing so unless pressed. But a little bit won't hurt, right? Thought the bluenette at the idea of showing Kyoko or Mami-san what she could do.

"Yo! Sayaka-chan!" said a familiar cheerful voice behind her.

"Kyoko!" answered the bluenette slightly worried at the sudden appearance of the redhead. Did she read my mind?

"Hey what's up! Wanna come with me to eat at Mami-san's house?" the redhead shouted as she ran towards the bluenette.

"Slow it down or you're gonna…aah!" before she could finish the redhead tripped and fell over Sayaka, the weight and momentum enough to send the two tumbling down on the pavement, their face mere milimeters from each other.

"Sa…Sayaka…" said the redhead while staring intently at the bluenette in front of her. Suddenly everything felt uncomfortably warm and Sayaka sported an especially beautiful look under the afternoon sun.

Sayaka could have sworn she heard a small giggle from afar and did her best to calm her heartbeat. Calm down Sayaka, its only Kyoko and Homura's only fooling around. You played her game before, you can do so again.

"Geez Kyoko you idiot! Told you to be careful!" replied the bluenette with fake anger as she pushed the redhead from her body. They were at the Mitakihara bridge and the sun was setting in the horizon. It was a beautiful sight indeed although Sayaka couldn't shake the feeling they were being observed and paying attention, the sun seemed a little…fake.

"Sorry sorry, now are you in or not?" asked the redhead again, evidently uncaring about their small 'accident'.

"Maybe latter" replied Sayaka serious. She wanted to think things through before telling the truth to Kyoko and given the risk of the Devil spying on the two of them it wouldn't do to be careless.

"Ah? Why? Got plans already?" Said Kyoko with evident dissappointment in her voice.

"No its just that…" started Sayaka.

"Oh c'mon! If you're worrying about your weight you're fine!" pleaded the redhead.

"I'm not, hey! Since when do you take my measurements?" answered Sayaka flustered.

"Just kidding! Now are you in or what?"

"…alright" the bluenette finally gave in. It was impossible to get angry at Kyoko.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"Oh Sayaka-chan, Kyoko-chan! What brings you two here?" asked Mami Tomoe half an hour later

"We came to drink tea and cake of course!" answered the redhead with gusto, two fists raised in the air for emphasis.

"That's, that's great! But it would have been nice of you to tell us, we didn't have time to do something special" replied Mami with some aprehension.

"What? Hey Kyoko you said they invited us!" said Sayaka with evident irritation towards the redhead.

"But they always have cake! Right Mami-san?" replied the redhead sticking her tongue while Sayaka apoligized to their mentor.

"Well, yeah…Bebe and I just finished a cheesecake so come in!" replied Tomoe as she stared at the small figure of Nagisa drooling at the freshly baked cheesecake. Oblivious to the world around them.

In a few minutes they were all comfortably eating cake.

"Wow your cakes are as delicious as always Mami!" said Kyoko between long gulps of tea and cake.

"Nagisa helped too!" replied the small girl sitting besides Mami while doing her best to avoid being spoon fed by the veteran. "Geez Mami I'm a big girl already! I can eat myself!"

"Oh c'mon, who's my little Bebe?" said Mami cheerful while Nagisa became more and more flustered. Everyone laughed at the spectacle, everyone but Sayaka as she stared lost in thought.

"What's the matter Sayaka?" asked Kyoko hitting the bluenette in the ribs.

"Wha?! Kyoko!" answered the bluenette playfully hitting the redhead in the shoulder. "Its just…Mami-san, can I ask you something personal?" said Sayaka after some time.

"My my, what could it be? Okay, it depends on what you ask wheter or not I answer, okay?" said Mami with the same maternal charm Sayaka knew her as.

"Alright, Mami-san, are you happy?"

"Of course she is, why wouldn't she?" said a cold and nasty voice from the doorway. The voice belonged to Homura Akemi standing by the door with an even nastier smile.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

**One hour earlier.**

Akuma Homura was standing by the Mitakihara rooftop apparently lost in thought. In truth she was coordinating the incubation of her soldiers and trying in vain to track the position of her other selves. So focused was her on the task that she couldn't feel the approach of a small figure standing before her.

"Ho…Homura-chan?" spoke Kaname Madoka after a deep breath. This was enough to startle Homura that turned around in shock while raising her hands prepared to vaporize whoever tried to sneak on her.

"Ma…Ma…Madoka?! What are you doing here?!" said Akuma Homura evidently startled. Putting a hand to her chest to add dramatic flair and looking at the girl that meant the world to her. Why no one of you warned me she was coming! Mentally she chastised the Clara Dolls surrounding the pinkette.

"Fort! Fort!" replied the dolls in unison. It was pointless to argue with them anyway, Homura sighed.

"Sorry to startle you! Its just…" another deep breath. "Sayaka-chan invited me to drink some tea with a friend and I thought…" looking at the soles of Homura's shoes, Madoka continued, "I thought you might want to come too!"

Why do you invite me! Why are you kind to me!? I don't deserve it. The sun was covered by black clouds but no one seemed to notice.

"I…I can't go…sorry" replied Homura with finality.

"You…you know Homura-chan, I always see you alone" replied Madoka while looking directly at her. Why do you look at me like that? Wondered Homura.

"I know its hard to meet new people, I too was lonely when I first came here you know?" continued Madoka. And that was true, Homura wanted to be the one to show Madoka around, to have the chance to bond with her just like in the old times. The first timeline that made the two so happy but that never came back. Homura knew that she herself was too far gone to go back to the meek girl with glasses she had been, but maybe…just maybe, if Madoka took her place their relationship could be restored. Alas, Madoka chose order and spat on the precious world Homura had crafted for her. Rejected her love and everything it meant in exchange of her order. So self-righteous, always good girl Madoka, treating others like they were so much as garbage!

"Its going to rain, isn't it?" asked the pinkette interrupting Homura's stream of thoughts. Indeed the sun was completely covered in black clouds and the sound of thunder crashed above.

Startled at her lack of control Homura composed herself. Yeah, there was no point in fretting over past failures, she had lost and Madoka would never be hers again. But it didn't matter, as long as she could be alive and well she would bear loneliness and despair.

"I don't want you to be alone" said Madoka with resolve, clutching Homura's hand in hers. The feeling of her warm hand in hers was enough to make her feel feverish. Desire bubbled within her being and she felt the need to take the pinkette and never let her go, to keep her in the cage that was her world forever. "So please come with me Homura-chan!" And there she was, saving her from her problems even when she didn't have to.

"Okay, Madoka"

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

"Akemi-san! What brings you here?" said Tomoe Mami visibly strained. Even though they knew each other in this world, there was something in Akemi Homura that left a sour taste in her mouth, like some really bad tea.

"A little bird told me you would be meeting here, or perhaps it was the devil" replied Homura with a dark chuckle. Sayaka visibly tensed at her sight.

"Actually I invited her. Can we come in?" asked Madoka completely oblivious to the air of menace that hung between them. Kyoko and Nagisa kept eating nonetheless.

"Oh Kaname-san! But of course, make yourself comfortable!" replied Mami trying to be polite despite Akemi's unwelcome presence.

"Thank you Mami-san!" replied Madoka cheerfuly, sitting besides Sayaka. "Hello Sayaka-chan! Hello Kyoko-chan! Nagisa-chan!" she greeted everyone in turn. "This is Akemi Homura-san from our class!"

Homura narrowed her eyes at the -san in her name. "I told you Madoka to just call me Homura" she reprimanded the pinkette, an action that only made the others more uncomfortable with her presence.

"Can I call you Homura too?" asked Sayaka defiant.

"Only if you have a death wish, Miki Sayaka" replied Homura sternly.

"Akemi-san you're a guest so please behave as such" said Mami Tomoe to which Homura only gave her a cold smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Homura-chan! Please!" Madoka grabbed her arm which made Homura stammer and lower her gaze.

"I…I'm sorry" said Akemi trying to compose herself.

Sayaka couldn't believe the most powerful being in the world was being subdued by Madoka of all people.

"More!" said Kyoko raising her platter.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

The pungent smell of rot and corruption filled what passed for her nostrils as she made short work of the quickly decompossing carcass of what had once been a human being. She had been the daughter of two rich merchants in Mitakihara, a fair young lady with low potential but enough ambition to make a middle tier Puella Magi if contracted. Alas no such luck as she thought a good idea to make a shortcut through the alley in order to visit her violinist boyfriend.

Oh how she had enjoyed the smell of fear as she found that instead of the alley she had expected it was a darkened mesh of tunnels as deep and labyrinthean as the mind of the owner.

How she had savoured every second of her screams of terror as every bone in her body was broken and her ugly skin was infested with maggots, truly a feast for the senses. Her despair as she thought of her family and friends and her lover forgetting about her was just the icing in the cake.

As she finished her grisly meal, Homulily prepared for the next step in her plan. Even though in her mind she 'saved' enough Puella Magi already, the girls she was about to visit had been very special to her in life and would be no good to leave them out of the party, right?

And so she danced, her gothic lolita dress flowing in winds of pestilece as she made her way to the concrete building. Forever celebrating the decadence of the spirit and the triumph of matter, for dust they were and to dust they would return…

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼


End file.
